New Cigar Enthusiast visiting Dominican Republic:)

[Glaze88]

Guys,

Just thought I would discuss my 1st trip to Dominican Republic. We arrived in Punta Cana yesterday and during my transit, I purchased a box of Partagas Mille Fleur's and a box of H.Upmann Royal Robusto's at Dubai Duty Free. Great prices with the MF coming out at $49USD and the HM R/Robusto's coming out at $130USD. Currently smoking the Partagas paired with some Dominican Republic coffee and throughly enjoying it and think it is a great value for money stick. I will be trying the Upmann later tonight with a nice glass of Pinot, so will fill you in later.

I purchased a Punch Punch from the cigar room at Harrods when in London and again, really enjoyed this smoke. Paired with a few glasses on Pinto and if I had a second stick on me, most likely would have fired that up as well:)

On Tuesday I am heading to the Don Lucas cigar factory for a tour, as well as a shopping spree. They sell a large variety of DR and Cuban cigars, so I have a few penciled in for purchase as I will be spending the following 2 weeks travelling through Prague and Amsterdam, so need some supplies. 

I will be coming home via Dubai so will hit up the Duty Free store again and purchase a few other boxes, will probably have more than allocated for 2 people travelling, but happy to pay the duty on them to start my collection. 

Will keep you posted on my tour of the cigar factory and purchases from the day.

 

[cigcars]

*Be careful of your purchase of so-called "Cuban" cigars in the DR...awful LOT of fakes there...

[Danimalia]

Right on! I am planning on visiting the DR at some point in the next few years to watch some winter baseball and check it out. Are you staying in Punta Cana?

In addition to the Cuban cigars available there, I also like Dominican cigars. Fuente, of course, but there are some awesome, smaller companies as well. Aging Room, La Galera (Tabacalera Palma), EP Carillo, Matilde, etc. 

[Glaze88]

  On 11/20/2016 at 8:00 PM, cigcars said:

*Be careful of your purchase of so-called "Cuban" cigars in the DR...awful LOT of fakes there...

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Thanks, I have done my research about Don Lucas as well as Cigar Country at local shopping centre and they seem to be pretty legit, but I have researched that there are a lot of fakes sold in resorts and on beaches, so will stay away from them. Thanks for the heads up though

[Glaze88]

  On 11/20/2016 at 8:06 PM, Danimalia said:

Right on! I am planning on visiting the DR at some point in the next few years to watch some winter baseball and check it out. Are you staying in Punta Cana?

In addition to the Cuban cigars available there, I also like Dominican cigars. Fuente, of course, but there are some awesome, smaller companies as well. Aging Room, La Galera (Tabacalera Palma), EP Carillo, Matilde, etc. 

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Yes I am staying in Punta Cana, dont know many of the DR brands but will check them out for sure. Thanks for the tips

[Smallclub]

  On 11/20/2016 at 7:52 PM, Glaze88 said:

 

On Tuesday I am heading to the Don Lucas cigar factory for a tour, as well as a shopping spree. They sell a large variety of DR and Cuban cigars,

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As far as I know there's no habanos distributor in Dominican Rep. If by chance you find legit habanos there, you will pay a delusional price for them.

IMO and TBH, looking for cuban cigars in DR is as cleaver as looking for Dominican cigars in Cuba…

[oliverdst]

  On 11/20/2016 at 8:44 PM, Smallclub said:

As far as I know there's no habanos distributor in Dominican Rep. If by chance you find legit habanos there, you will pay a delusional price for them.

IMO and TBH, looking for cuban cigars in DR is as cleaver as looking for Dominican cigars in Cuba…

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Last year I was in Punta Cana and as far as I remember there is a distributor in DR but they are based on San Domingos (500 km from Punta). Couldnt find any legit CC's in the resort I was and didnt make any effort chasing them.

[Glaze88]

  On 11/20/2016 at 8:44 PM, Smallclub said:

As far as I know there's no habanos distributor in Dominican Rep. If by chance you find legit habanos there, you will pay a delusional price for them.

IMO and TBH, looking for cuban cigars in DR is as cleaver as looking for Dominican cigars in Cuba…

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Ok, thanks for the heads up;) I thought the Cubans available would be a lot cheaper than prices available in Australia. Also, dont really know too many DR cigars to make good quality choices, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Smallclub]

  On 11/20/2016 at 8:50 PM, Glaze88 said:

 Also, dont really know too many DR cigars to make good quality choices, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Well, I hate being the bearer of bad news, but DR is probably the last place to buy cigars. The priority of the cigar makers there is exportation, and the prices in the island are higher than those that you can find online.

[SCgarman]

I would not even pursue any Cuban cigars while you are there. Most likely you will get burned with fakes.

As Smallclub  stated, most of the cigars there are for export. Enjoy your stay and have fun!

[TCContender]

One word of advice, if you have a longer layover in Dubai, check out a few of the terminals' duty free shops.  I have found that there some have much better selection than others.  It is only a quick shuttle ride between terminals and no security check points.

[oliverdst]

Now I remember that in the departure duty free there is a very good cigar shop (crossing the snack bars on your right). I could find some legit cubans (expensive). Huge selection of Dominican cigars.

[Glaze88]

  On 11/21/2016 at 1:59 AM, oliverdst said:

Now I remember that in the departure duty free there is a very good cigar shop (crossing the snack bars on your right). I could find some legit cubans (expensive). Huge selection of Dominican cigars.

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Yeh the store I found was awesome! I found the prices to be quite good, actually cheaper than online for the boxes I purchased, but not by a lot. 

[el chino]

Awesome!  Have a great time.  We want to see some pics of your trip!

[TheBaron]

My advice, for what it's worth, would be to try a range of Dominicans. After all, that's what they do best there.

Oh, and have a game of golf at Teeth of the Dog while you're there

[Glaze88]

The weather since arriving Sat night has been nothing but rain, so haven't been able to get out and explore . I did venture to the cigar factory and spent some time shopping in their Humidor. Bought a box of their own Corona's which I was given a stick to sample on arrival, as well as purchasing a variety of single sticks I wanted to try. Both Dominican and Cubans were on offer, so I enjoyed adding some nice sticks to the collection. Will try and upload some pics soon, but nothing too exciting!

[Ribeye]

Take the excellent advice from both Smallclub and NYgarman. I have spent months in the DR, and these folks are clever.....really clever.  They can produce knock off products with genuine boxes and bands that would fool the most seasoned experts.  Unless you actually know an inside factory source to procure name branded Dominican cigars, since these are produced in the Zona Franca or free trade zone.  By law these cigars must be Exported and reimported with taxes paid.  Whenever I travel there, I bring my own cigars as it's cheaper to purchase them in the U.S..  Have fun and be careful.  It's a wild country.

[Habana Mike]

I'd suggest, rather than hunting Habanos in the DR, you visit some of the finer cigar shops in Amsterdam (PGC Hajenius and the LCDH - say hi to Didi) and smoke a few at either of the Bar & Books while in Prague

[canadianbeaver]

If I was in the DR I would not smoke Cubans at all. I would look for cigars from the oldest historic roller there, La Aurora. Before I hit the Cuban trail, these were my fave. http://www.laaurora.com.do/

And my last time at a cigar shop in Florida, the premium ones were as expensive as some of the Davidoff. So enjoy them, even some of the time?

 

Have a great trip!

[Danimalia]

Are you still down there, Glaze?